Merton of the Movies (1924 film)
1924 film by James Cruze
Merton of the Movies is a 1924 American comedy film directed by James Cruze, written by Walter Woods, and starring Glenn Hunter and Viola Dana. It is based on the George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly 1922 play of the same name, which in turn was based on Harry Leon Wilson's novel, also titled Merton of the Movies.
Glenn Hunter had originated the role of Merton Gill in the Broadway play and reprised his role in this film. Since the play had depended on funny dialogue, the movie (being silent) was opened up and a good deal of slapstick used instead. Thomas Hischak described the result as "uneven" although "Hunter still pleases and there are some droll performances by the supporting cast".
It was remade in 1932 (as Make Me a Star) and again in 1947.
Plot
Merton is an aspiring movie actor. He is a terrible actor but when the movie executives see how funny his overacting is, they cast him in a comedy, but tell him that he's acting in a drama.
Cast
Preservation
In February of 2021, Merton of the Movies was cited by the National Film Preservation Board on their Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films list and is therefore presumed lost.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Merton of the Movies (1924 film)” as 1924 film by James Cruze. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1924 film by James Cruze. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6820740. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1924, 1922, 1932 and 1947.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Merton of the Movies (1924 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.